This blog will record my research (both in Australia and overseas), links I like, articles or newsletters I read, family history news that excites me and so on. The aim is to be a daily record of my activities which might be of interest to other genealogy researchers.

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Wednesday, 27 June 2012

Genealogy Notes 27 Jun 2012 - Day 3 Unlock the Past Expo Brisbane

Well the first two days of the Unlock the Past Brisbane expo went amazingly quickly and the cold rainy weather has continued but that hasn't stopped all the eager attendees who are swarming around the exhibits and waiting outside presentation theatres. Day 3 was also a full on day with presentations in all three theatres and the Research Area going all day.

I had heard Carole Riley's talk on social media for genealogy before so my first session was Stephen Dando-Collins talking about his books including 'Captain Bligh's other mutiny' the Rum Rebellion. He's an interesting speaker and makes writing books sound very easy!

For my second session I decided to go to one of the free sessions and I'm glad I did. Jill Ball gave a great three part presentation on webinars (GeneaWebinars), Flip Pal mobile scanners and Picasa for genealogists. It was a practical session with Jill taking the mystery out of these areas and showing how simple it really is to use these great tools for our family history research. My only gripe was that it should have been longer and part of the paid talk series so that more people could have had the opportunity to attend. The great news is that Jill's slides for all three talks will be on the Unlock the Past Resources page soon.

If I wanted lunch and a bit of a break I had to skip the next session and the lure of those potato pies was too great so I happily settled down to one of those and a jumbo size latte to help keep the cold at bay. The great thing about the lunch area was that you were able to talk to others at the table and some people seem to have travelled quite a distance to attend. Just a pity that the weather wasn't more friendly!

My sixth and last talk of the Expo was next with It's Not All Online with the other sessions being Graham Jaunay on old handwriting, Dan Kelly on book typesetting and printing, Rosemary Kopittke on Scotlands People and Carole and Helen demonstrating The Master Genealogist in the Research Area.

The final session was Audrey Collins talking about will forgeries, organised crime and identity theft in the 1840s and Eric Kopittke on internet resources for German research. I opted for Eric's talk which came with a useful handout of resources and as always Eric makes it all sound quite simple if you approach it in a logical fashion. Some of his online map sites were amazing.

I went back into the Exhibition area to say goodbye to people and while it is sad seeing everything packed up, it's also good to know that you will probably see them all again next year or every second year depending on how often a particular event is held. As we are genealogical gypsies/grey nomads we are able to attend more of these events than others plus it gives us the opportunity to visit families in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory. Yes that's right, we have family and friends in every state which is probably why we can't pick a place to settle down ourselves!

I still have to write up the exhibitors and doing my overall review but hopefully that will be in the next day or so. Today is a rest day and we are taking my mother and my ex mother in law to lunch for a catch up chat and last night we visited Max's Aunty Mavis who has just turned 101 and is still up and about and loving life in Sinnamon Village. Truly inspiring and the stories she tells! Until next time.

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This blog is written, edited and maintained by me, Shauna Hicks.

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